1911 Born Toronto March 19
1933 Graduated from Ontario College of Art
1934 Began a schedule of exhibiting with OSA, RCA, Montreal Spring and Hamilton Winter Shows. Hobo’d around Canada for one year.
1936 Gold miner, Omega Gold Mine, Larder Lake, Ontario for 18 months.
1937 Art Students’ League, N.Y.C. under Howard Trafton.
1939 Advertising artist in New York.
1941 Married Ruth Brown of Brantford, Ontario.
1942 Returned to Toronto. Worked for a year as aircraft mechanic.
1943 Canadian Army, Artillery Survey.
1946 Returned from overseas. Resumed advertising art in Toronto.
1950 Son born, lan M.
1951 Began doing underground mining paintings with a sketch¬ing trip to Delnite Mine, Timmins.
1952 Elected member Ontario Society of Artists.
1954 Elected Associate, Royal Canadian Academy of Art.
1955 Joined staff of Ontario College of Art, Advertising Art Depart¬ment.
– Represented in First Biennial of Canadian Art, National Gallery.
1956 Three-months’ sketching trip to Western Canada by car and travel trailer – a practice that has been carried on every summer since, to most parts of Canada. First one-man show at Roberts Gallery.
1957 External Affairs Show, National Gallery.
1958 Elected president of Ontario Society of Artists. Executed Mural for Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
1959 Executed mural for Bank of Canada, Toronto Agency.
1961 Elected full academician, Royal Canadian Academy.
– Three-man show, Ontario Association of Architects. Fourth Biennial of Canadian Art, National Gallery.
1962 Executed second mural for Ryerson Institute. Four-man show, Art Museum of London, Ontario.
1963 An eight-painting commission by Standard Oil of New Jersey, to depict the landscape near the Trans-Canada Highway. Rodman Hall, St. Catharines, Ontario – The Figure Forum. Roberts Gallery, One-man exhibiting bi-annually.
1964 Stratford, Ontario – Faces of Canada.
Frye Museum, Seattle, Washington, U.S A., (One-man show)
1967 Awarded Centennial Medal.
– Resigned from staff of Ontario College of Art to devote full time to painting.
1968 Represented in Canadian Artists ’68, Art Gallery of Ontario.
– First one-man show, Kensington Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, One-man exhibiting bi-annually.
1969 Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, One-man.
1970 Culture and Art Centre, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland, One-man.
1971 Retrospective Exhibition, Paintings and Drawings from 1935 to 1970. Organized by and shown at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa.
1972 Spent eleven weeks sketching in the Eastern High Arctic on the Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker, d’lBERVILLE.
1974 Elected to the Board of Trustees, Art Gallery of Ontario. Re-elected 1975 and 1976.
1977 Appointed Alternate Trustee, Art Gallery of Ontario. Awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
1978 Spent five weeks sketching in the Arctic, through the North¬west passage, on the Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker JOHN A. MACDONALD.
1984 Travelled to the Canadian High Arctic, courtesy of the Polar Continental Shelf Program, and Pacific Western Airlines.
1985 Two weeks spent sketching in the Canadian High Arctic.
1990 Passed away August 23

COLLIER, Alan Caswell

1911-1990

Born in Toronto, Ontario, his interest in art began at the age of twelve. Later he entered the Ontario College of Art where he studied under J.E.H. MacDonald, Franklin Carmichael and others (1929-33). In 1934 he ‘rode the rods’ across Canada working on relief gangs seeing the country. To finance his advanced studies in New York he worked as a miner for a year and a half (1936-1937) at the Omega Gold Mine, Larder Lake. With enough money saved, he moved to NYC where he studied at ASL evenings under Howard Trafton. Summers he went back to work underground at the Omega Mine. On his return to New York in 1939 he became an advertising artist and no longer had to work at mining jobs. In 1941 he married Ruth Brown of Brantford. In 1942 he returned to Toronto where he was a sheet metal worker for Victory Aircraft, Malton. In 1943 he joined the Canadian Army (RCA). On his return from overseas in 1946 he resumed his career as an advertising artist in Toronto but did more painting and less commercial work. In 1950, his son Ian was born. In 1951 he began working on paintings of underground mining, sketching at the Delnite Mine, Timmins. In the fol­lowing years he made trips to eight mines: McIntyre, Preston East Dome, New Calumet, Faraday, Coppercorp, Kidd Copper, Copperfield and Lamaque Mines. He was elected member of the OSA in 1952. In 1955 he joined the staff of the OCA where he taught advertising art. In 1956 he made a three-month sketching trip to western Canada by car and travel trailer with his wife and son, a practice he followed every summer to most parts of Canada. Reviewing his work in 1961 Colin Sabiston noted, Technically, Mr. Collier has reached a new peak of achievement, especially in his paint­ings. The drawings are in clean-cut lines, explicit and unencumbered with detail. The paintings, on the other hand, are redolent of rich color, full of the beauty any tourist may see but which only an accomplished artist can bring home with him to share with those who see his work. In 1963 he was awarded an eight-painting commission by Standard Oil of New Jersey, to depict the landscapes along the Trans-Canada Highway. In 1967 he resigned from the staff of the OCA to devote his full-time to painting. He worked mainly in oils but also painted with water colours, pyroxilin, and acrylic polymer emulsion. In 1971 a retrospective exhibition of his paintings and drawings from 1935 to 1970 was organized by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, and then shown in a number of Ontario galleries. Two weeks of each year of 1984 and 1985 he sketched in the High Arctic as guest of Polar Continental Shelf Project. His solo shows include: Roberts Gallery, Tor. (1956) (1957) (1958) (1963) (1965) (1967) (1971) (1985) (1986) (1989); Frye Mus., Seattle, Wash., U.S.A. (1964); Kensington Gal., Calg. (1968) (1970) (1972) (1974) (1985) (1986) (1989); Robt. McL. Gal., Oshawa (retrosp., 1971); RCA, Tor. (1991). He was a mbr. of: OSA (1952) Pres. (1958-61); ARCA (1956) RCA (1960); ALCT; Art Inst. of Ont. His commissions include: mural, Ryerson Polytech. Inst., Tor. (1958); mural, Bank of Canada, Tor. (1959); 2nd mural, Ryerson Polytech. Inst. (1962); His painting Across the Tundra (Kluane National Park scene) was reproduced on 1979 Canada Post $2 stamp. Is represented in: NGC, Ott.; AGO, Tor.; Art Mus. of Lond.; Hamilton AG; K-W AG, Kitch., Ont.; Sarnia PL & AG; Queen’s Park, Tor.; McL. Gal., Oshawa; Tom T. AG, Owen Sound, Ont.; AG of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie; AG Lindsay; Peterb. AG; Arts & Culture Centre, St. John’s Nfld.; Frye Mus., Seattle, Wash.; Min. Ext. Affairs, Ott.; Min. Transp., Ott.; SGWG, Concordia U., Mtl.; Laurentian U., Sudbury; CIL, Mtl.; Seagram, Mtl.; Tor. Gen. Trust; T-D Bank, Tor.; Royal Bank, Tor.; Royal Trust, Tor. Two paintings by him in NGC are Ore Car on the 2875 foot Level, Delnite Mine (1951), a dramatic composition, and The Guitar Player (Allan Fleming) (c. 1958) a sensitive work; the AGO has his The Land that Listens (1963), a marvellous vista of mountains; The McLaughlin Gallery owns his Nude Back, a fine example of his figure work done directly from the model with no preliminary sketches. Queen’s Park has his Mining in Ontario (1968) which combines above and below views of an Ontario mine using realism and abstraction with an imaginative and cohesive result. He also did four portraits which are in the Ontario Government collection. Collier’s paintings are free of clutter and are masterful in composition. Many of his paintings were done with oils on masonite. His portraits included business and educational personalities. He considered his finest portrait to be that of his wife Ruth. He died in Toronto at the age of 79. He was survived by his wife, his son, brothers, Dr. Bruce Collier of Edmonton and Edward of Richmond Hill and their families.